Thesis: After The R.U.F signs the Lomé Peace Accord, the land they gained was used to fund the war for as long as money was made. The Decade Long War (Civil War in Sierra Leone)
Began on March 23, 1991
Declared over on January 18, 2002
50,000 Dead, countless others left homeless or without family.
Main forces in the civil war were the R.U.F and the S.L.A.
R.U.F- Revolutionary United Front
S.L.A- Sierra Leone Army
The S.L.A fights the R.U.F back but in the process another military Coup is created making the A.F.R.C (Armed Forces Revolutionary Council) the new government in Sierra Leone.
Johnny Paul Koroma, the new leader in government, declares the war “over”
In another attempt to bring peace to the country, the Lomé Peace Accord was created to end the warring.
The R.U.F takes control over a majority of Southern and Eastern Sierra Leone’s diamond reserves because of the Lomé Peace Accord and continue the war.
Diamond Conflict
Diamond trade throughout africa
R.U.F’s control over the diamond reserves gave them enough money to keep the war funded for as long as they kept them because of the Conflict Diamonds.
Conflict Diamonds- diamond mined in a war zone and sold to finance an insurgency, or invading army's war efforts.
The R.U.F traded the diamonds with Guinea,Libya, and also to the S.L.A.
To keep control over the mining districts, the R.U.F got rid of many people who lived in the area who were not their workers.
Before the R.U.F forced people to work in the mines the National Diamond Mining Corporation ,DIMINCO (Sierra Leone government and DeBeers) the were forced to work for cheap wages.
The money from the mining operations never went to the average citizens, that resentment towards the government and to the low wages they earned created the R.U.F in a way.
Major-Recent issues of Sierra Leone
Thesis: After The R.U.F signs the Lomé Peace Accord, the land they gained was used to fund the war for as long as money was made.
The Decade Long War (Civil War in Sierra Leone)
Diamond Conflict
http://books.google.com/books?id=4kNErbPSzUUC&pg=PA135&dq=diamonds+Sierra+leone&hl=en&ei=u2ojTeeAPYWglAff2pGrDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=diamonds%20Sierra%20leone&f=false
http://www.econ.berkeley.edu/~emiguel/pdfs/miguel_sl-aea.pdf
http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/182-diamonds/49111-blood-diamonds-still-bloody.html
http://media.web.britannica.com/eb-media/20/69620-004-AC04BCC4.gif